The Scranton Prep senior woke up at 7 a.m. to prepare for his graduation ceremony at the Xavier Center.

Following those festivities, shortly after noon, he hopped in the car and made a beeline for PNC Field.

Despite having only 20 minutes to warm up, Gaetano scored four runs and hit a key triple in the eighth inning to lead the Lackawanna League to an 8-6 victory over the Wyoming Valley Conference in the inaugural Field of Dreams Game.

"It's been a long day, but it's been a lot of fun," Gaetano said. "I got to graduate, and I got to play in the senior all-star game. It was a blast."

With nothing more than bragging rights on the line, members of both teams relished the opportunity to play at the newly renovated home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and have one final go-around on the diamond.

"It was a great experience to end the season," said Wyoming Valley second baseman Greg Petorak of Dallas. "It's good to be back with some former teammates in a professional atmosphere."

Though it was only an exhibition contest, the game had all the drama one would expect from a playoff clash, and fans were barely in their seats when the offensive fireworks began.

Lackawanna Trail's Vic Rosa and Gaetano were hit by pitches to lead off the game. Mid Valley's Nick Demian then roped a single into left field to give the Lackawanna League a quick 1-0 lead. After Matt Staback, Valley View's first baseman, brought home Gaetano with a grounder to short, Honesdale's Pete Kelly tripled to put his squad up by three.

"We jumped on them and got them down early," Demian said. "It felt great knowing that we got things started off right."

After scoring two more runs in the second inning, the Lackawanna League looked to be in complete control.

But the Wyoming Valley all-stars had plenty of fight left in them.

Down, 6-1, entering the bottom of the sixth, Pittston Area coach Paul Zaffuto's team put together a lengthy one-out rally.

With the bases loaded, Wyoming Area's Bart Chupka started the comeback with a one-run single. A groundout by Hanover Area's Mike Ferrence cut the lead to three, and the deficit shrank to one after a fielding error and a throwing error on a sharp grounder hit by Will Morales, of Berwick, allowed two more runners to score. Fellow Berwick teammate T.J. Lashock completed the run with a two-out single to knot the score at six.

But the comeback just set the stage for Gaetano's knock in the eighth.

With one out, he drilled a pitch to deep center and had thoughts of trying for an inside-the-park home run.

"I got a fastball right down the middle and luckily hit it over the center fielder's head," Gaetano said. "I was really hoping coach would send me home, but it all worked out."

Valley View's Liam Callejas drove him home with a single to reclaim the lead.

After adding an insurance run, the Lackawanna League sent Demian out to close the deal on the mound.

"I was running on adrenaline," he said. "But I just had to go out there and battle for my team."

The Lackawanna squad hopes that the victory is only the first in what should become an enjoyable rivalry.

"Both teams battled, and it was just a lot of fun," Demian said. "Anyone that gets to do this next year is very lucky."

Gaetano agreed.

"It's going to be a great tradition over the next couple years," he said. "I hope the new seniors will look forward to it."

Lackawanna Wyoming Valley

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Rosa cf 1 2 0 0 Morales cf 4 1 1 0

Gaetano rf 3 4 2 0 Kollar ss 2 0 1 0

Demian ss 3 1 1 1 Lashock 3b 4 0 1 1

Staback 1b 3 0 1 3 Miller dh 2 0 0 0

Kelly 3b 2 0 1 1 Petorak 2b 1 1 1 0

Rebar 2b 2 0 1 0 Houseman 2b 2 0 0 0

Best c 2 0 0 0 Lee rf 2 0 0 0

Dellia dh 1 0 0 0 Stepniak 1b 0 0 0 0

Williams lf 2 0 0 0 Munisteri lf 0 0 0 0

Callejas ss 2 1 1 1 Snyder ss 2 0 0 0

Murazzi rf 2 0 1 0 Grove c 1 1 0 0

Sompel 3b 3 0 0 1 Weiss rf 1 1 1 0

Judge 2b 2 0 0 0 Amesbury 1b 1 0 0 0

Nelson 1b 2 0 0 0 Chupka 1b 2 1 1 1

Parchinski lf 1 0 0 0 Ferrence lf 1 0 0 1

Klatt cf 2 0 0 0 Granteed ss 1 1 1 0

Brown c 1 0 0 0 Featherman p 1 0 0 0

Higgs c 1 0 0 0

McClain 3b 2 0 0 0

Totals 34 8 8 7 Totals 30 6 7 3

Lackawanna 320 001 0 2 - 8

Wyoming Valley 000 105 0 0 - 6

2B: Matt Staback (LL).

3B: Chris Gaetano (LL), Pete Kelly (LL).

Lackawanna IP H R ER BB SO

Stauffer 2 1 0 0 1 0

Nelson 2 1 1 0 1 3

Murazzi 1 1 0 0 1 0

Kranick 1 4 5 2 1 1

Demian, W 2 0 0 0 2 3

Wyoming Valley IP H R ER BB SO

Ferrence 1 2 3 3 0 2

DeNoia 1 1 2 2 3 1

Granteed 1 1 0 0 0 1

Weiss 1 0 0 0 0 1

Featherman 1 0 0 0 1 1

McClain 1 2 1 1 0 0

Miller, L 2 2 2 2 1 5

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